SPOILERS aplenty in these ramblings, for anyone who doesn't want to read them!
'Thin Ice'
As the first story of 'Season 27', I'm glad to be able to hear this one. I'm actually a big fan of the McCoy years and, particularly, Season 26, so it's nice to see that continued in 'The Lost Stories'. Something was definitely missed in 1990, with the story of the Doctor and Ace ending as abruptly as it did. I know that Big Finish have done a lot of brilliant work with the Seventh Doctor, and I wouldn't dismiss any of that, and there have been lots of books (both Virgin and BBC, as well as Telos), but this is something unique and extra special, to have a continuation of Andrew Cartmel's vision of the programme. Having the first one written by Marc Platt is the icing on the cake. With Russians and power games and mysteries, I immediately thought Curse of Fenric, which means Thin Ice fits extremely well into the era it's supposed to. It also feels close in style to the likes of Remembrance of the Daleks and Silver Nemesis. There are a lot of people here up to their own agendas, that know certain things that they aren't immediately letting on about. The music and sound design are, for the most part, spot on for sounding like 1989/1990. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred are both on great form, they just have such a wonderful chemistry together as the Seventh Doctor and Ace, that they've cemented over the years. I can really believe it, if they're happy or angry with each other. I did find that McCoy's voice sounded different at points, but that's not a bad thing, and it didn't detract from my enjoyment at all.
I have to say that I love the Ice Warriors as monsters. I've never thought that they've ever been as good as they were in their first story. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them in The Seeds of Death and The Curse of Peladon, and Red Dawn even (which a lot of people don't enjoy!) but often with a monster, that first appearance has something unique and special, that reaches the core of their concept and it cannot ever be replicated exactly, in that same satisfying way again (I feel the same about the Daleks and Cybermen). It's almost unexplainable in a way. On saying all that, I do think that they are well served here; the voices by Nick Briggs, their sonic guns, and the addition of the sonic grenades, all help with that. There is something eerie about an Ice Warrior in an Earth setting, eating fish fingers, that really works well for me. Doctor Who always works best when it mixes the ordinary with the extraordinary and it's always at it's most scary then too, because you're never sure what is going to happen. The story deals with the Warriors' honour, they are looking for the relics of their legendary War Lord Sezhyr and it's interesting, and kind of poignant, that when he is revived he doesn't turn out to be exactly what they expected. The only trouble with the Ice Warriors is that they are such a visual monster, despite their impressive hissing voices, seeing them lumber about and tower over everyone is what's most impressive about them and that, unfortunately, can only be lost in the audio medium.
The Russians are up to something, as is traditional in this sort of Doctor Who story. It's all about power, importance and using what they've found to further their own ends. The idea of them using the Ice Warrior helmet, and the other alien devices, to create a new weapon to gain mastery in the Cold War is intriguing, frightening and highly effective. Of course it go only go wrong, tampering with things that they don't understand. This is quite chillingly portrayed in the character of Raina Kerenskaya, as the helmet takes her over. The stakes are raised further with the birth of the baby. The character of Creevyhas a serious side, in his relationship with Kerenskaya, that shouldn't be forgotten, but he does provide good comic relief, to give the story some lightness and he's a wondeful double act with the Doctor, when they are both in London, in the last episode. It's amusing to have a Time Lord that's checking up on the Doctor too and telling him not to interfere and leave Ace to do things on her own. One thing that Time Lords always do is interfere, unlike the Doctor though, they are not always doing it for a good reason, they can have some quite sinister aims. There is a certain mystery here and we wonder (if we haven't read any of the ideas behind the original Season 27 and this story that is!) what they could possibly be interested in Ace for. That, ultimately, is one of the greatest things about this story, the characters are all at the heart of it and, to be perfectly honest, you'd expect nothing less from Marc Platt. He delivers another winner of a tale because of that.
Being able to go to Moscow, and London, and have a car chase across the ice is a benefit of the audio medium. You could argue that this isn't keeping faithful to the television series, which I feel 'The Lost Stories' should evoke as much as possible. The original show wouldn't have been able to achieve those elements as well, on it's budget, but why should this 'audio' story have to limit it's scope just for that? It still fits just as well into the era in my mind. The bikers wearing Martian helmets is such a good idea, if very visual, and although I think the imagination does allow it to work, something is lost here. It could have looked brilliant in a visual medium.
In summing up Thin Ice, at the heart of the story is the two main characters of the Doctor and Ace. I think the Doctor has good intensions in trying to enrol Ace in the academy. He wants her to have the chance to be the strong and able young women that she has become; this occurred over the last three stories of Season 26 and I think that it is well built upon here. However, he keeps interfering in her tests (and annoying the Time Lords!), because it is heartbreaking for him to see her in a dangerous situation and not be able to help. Ace knows the Doctor well enough by now to know that he is up to something, and she knows that a lot of the time, people can be hurt be what he does, often quite badly. She is really angry with him, believably so, and this is again down to the chemistry and performances of McCoy and Aldred. The original idea of Ace joining the Time Lords just wouldn't work for me. The Doctor ran away from them, after all and it just seems silly. The character of Ace deserves better and she gets it here. Rather than become like a Time Lord, I think the experience strengthens her humanity. It also strengthens the relationship between her and the Doctor; they are not ready to part company quite yet. She thinks that he will abandon her to get involved in more dodgy schemes, but it says how much she really must mean to him that he doesn't. It's tense between them at first, when the Doctor says 'we never said goodbye' and she snaps 'goodbye!' back. He confesses that he liked her calling him professer, and she says 'that's kid's stuff, things change'. The Doctor says he's never got used to growing up, that that's very human; all Ace replies is that some people are born old. The Doctor realises that she never wanted to go to the Academy and admits he never did either; Ace turned up to her mothers five years too early, because she didn't really wanted to go home, or be taken to Gallifrey, she really just wants to carry on travelling with the Doctor and probably, grudgingly, hoped that he'd turn up. Even so, Ace is hesitant at first when she says 'yes!', although she quickly becomes relieved and happy when she says 'thanks'. She does want to stay travelling with him. For me, that is much more powerful than the original idea could ever have been, I really think that Ace matured a lot as a character here, and it follows on nicely from the end of Season 26. It's a really touching, and moving. final scene. It's a lovely moment, wonderful, when they both say 'Ace Warrior' and 'Professor', that its 'fab' and 'groovy' and Ace proclaims that 'we've still got work to do!' I love that last scene and it makes Thin Ice a great start to this new series. I'm looking forward to further adventures with the Seventh Doctor and Ace (and Raine!). It'll be fab!
'Thin Ice'
As the first story of 'Season 27', I'm glad to be able to hear this one. I'm actually a big fan of the McCoy years and, particularly, Season 26, so it's nice to see that continued in 'The Lost Stories'. Something was definitely missed in 1990, with the story of the Doctor and Ace ending as abruptly as it did. I know that Big Finish have done a lot of brilliant work with the Seventh Doctor, and I wouldn't dismiss any of that, and there have been lots of books (both Virgin and BBC, as well as Telos), but this is something unique and extra special, to have a continuation of Andrew Cartmel's vision of the programme. Having the first one written by Marc Platt is the icing on the cake. With Russians and power games and mysteries, I immediately thought Curse of Fenric, which means Thin Ice fits extremely well into the era it's supposed to. It also feels close in style to the likes of Remembrance of the Daleks and Silver Nemesis. There are a lot of people here up to their own agendas, that know certain things that they aren't immediately letting on about. The music and sound design are, for the most part, spot on for sounding like 1989/1990. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred are both on great form, they just have such a wonderful chemistry together as the Seventh Doctor and Ace, that they've cemented over the years. I can really believe it, if they're happy or angry with each other. I did find that McCoy's voice sounded different at points, but that's not a bad thing, and it didn't detract from my enjoyment at all.
I have to say that I love the Ice Warriors as monsters. I've never thought that they've ever been as good as they were in their first story. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them in The Seeds of Death and The Curse of Peladon, and Red Dawn even (which a lot of people don't enjoy!) but often with a monster, that first appearance has something unique and special, that reaches the core of their concept and it cannot ever be replicated exactly, in that same satisfying way again (I feel the same about the Daleks and Cybermen). It's almost unexplainable in a way. On saying all that, I do think that they are well served here; the voices by Nick Briggs, their sonic guns, and the addition of the sonic grenades, all help with that. There is something eerie about an Ice Warrior in an Earth setting, eating fish fingers, that really works well for me. Doctor Who always works best when it mixes the ordinary with the extraordinary and it's always at it's most scary then too, because you're never sure what is going to happen. The story deals with the Warriors' honour, they are looking for the relics of their legendary War Lord Sezhyr and it's interesting, and kind of poignant, that when he is revived he doesn't turn out to be exactly what they expected. The only trouble with the Ice Warriors is that they are such a visual monster, despite their impressive hissing voices, seeing them lumber about and tower over everyone is what's most impressive about them and that, unfortunately, can only be lost in the audio medium.
The Russians are up to something, as is traditional in this sort of Doctor Who story. It's all about power, importance and using what they've found to further their own ends. The idea of them using the Ice Warrior helmet, and the other alien devices, to create a new weapon to gain mastery in the Cold War is intriguing, frightening and highly effective. Of course it go only go wrong, tampering with things that they don't understand. This is quite chillingly portrayed in the character of Raina Kerenskaya, as the helmet takes her over. The stakes are raised further with the birth of the baby. The character of Creevyhas a serious side, in his relationship with Kerenskaya, that shouldn't be forgotten, but he does provide good comic relief, to give the story some lightness and he's a wondeful double act with the Doctor, when they are both in London, in the last episode. It's amusing to have a Time Lord that's checking up on the Doctor too and telling him not to interfere and leave Ace to do things on her own. One thing that Time Lords always do is interfere, unlike the Doctor though, they are not always doing it for a good reason, they can have some quite sinister aims. There is a certain mystery here and we wonder (if we haven't read any of the ideas behind the original Season 27 and this story that is!) what they could possibly be interested in Ace for. That, ultimately, is one of the greatest things about this story, the characters are all at the heart of it and, to be perfectly honest, you'd expect nothing less from Marc Platt. He delivers another winner of a tale because of that.
Being able to go to Moscow, and London, and have a car chase across the ice is a benefit of the audio medium. You could argue that this isn't keeping faithful to the television series, which I feel 'The Lost Stories' should evoke as much as possible. The original show wouldn't have been able to achieve those elements as well, on it's budget, but why should this 'audio' story have to limit it's scope just for that? It still fits just as well into the era in my mind. The bikers wearing Martian helmets is such a good idea, if very visual, and although I think the imagination does allow it to work, something is lost here. It could have looked brilliant in a visual medium.
In summing up Thin Ice, at the heart of the story is the two main characters of the Doctor and Ace. I think the Doctor has good intensions in trying to enrol Ace in the academy. He wants her to have the chance to be the strong and able young women that she has become; this occurred over the last three stories of Season 26 and I think that it is well built upon here. However, he keeps interfering in her tests (and annoying the Time Lords!), because it is heartbreaking for him to see her in a dangerous situation and not be able to help. Ace knows the Doctor well enough by now to know that he is up to something, and she knows that a lot of the time, people can be hurt be what he does, often quite badly. She is really angry with him, believably so, and this is again down to the chemistry and performances of McCoy and Aldred. The original idea of Ace joining the Time Lords just wouldn't work for me. The Doctor ran away from them, after all and it just seems silly. The character of Ace deserves better and she gets it here. Rather than become like a Time Lord, I think the experience strengthens her humanity. It also strengthens the relationship between her and the Doctor; they are not ready to part company quite yet. She thinks that he will abandon her to get involved in more dodgy schemes, but it says how much she really must mean to him that he doesn't. It's tense between them at first, when the Doctor says 'we never said goodbye' and she snaps 'goodbye!' back. He confesses that he liked her calling him professer, and she says 'that's kid's stuff, things change'. The Doctor says he's never got used to growing up, that that's very human; all Ace replies is that some people are born old. The Doctor realises that she never wanted to go to the Academy and admits he never did either; Ace turned up to her mothers five years too early, because she didn't really wanted to go home, or be taken to Gallifrey, she really just wants to carry on travelling with the Doctor and probably, grudgingly, hoped that he'd turn up. Even so, Ace is hesitant at first when she says 'yes!', although she quickly becomes relieved and happy when she says 'thanks'. She does want to stay travelling with him. For me, that is much more powerful than the original idea could ever have been, I really think that Ace matured a lot as a character here, and it follows on nicely from the end of Season 26. It's a really touching, and moving. final scene. It's a lovely moment, wonderful, when they both say 'Ace Warrior' and 'Professor', that its 'fab' and 'groovy' and Ace proclaims that 'we've still got work to do!' I love that last scene and it makes Thin Ice a great start to this new series. I'm looking forward to further adventures with the Seventh Doctor and Ace (and Raine!). It'll be fab!
© Robert Morrison, 2019
The copyright in all material appearing on this website remains with the author. No part of this website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
The copyright in all material appearing on this website remains with the author. No part of this website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.